The British Castle: A Symbol in Stone

Hundreds of medieval castles dot the British landscape—most are now ruins, but some are still inhabited by aristocratic families or serve as government buildings. More than any other building type, the castle, in its rise and fall, encapsulates the history of British society. 

This exhibition will bring together a selection of paintings that explore the castle in art—its historical role, place in the landscape, architectural development, and literary associations. Among the specific castles to be featured are Windsor, the largest and oldest inhabited castle in the world and home to the monarch; Corfe Castle, whose ruins after the Civil War serve as a warning that, in a modern democracy, power must bow to the will of the people; and Dover, whose mass kept watch against invasion from France from before the Norman Conquest through to the Second World War. Selections will give insight into castles both real and imagined, and will summarize their symbolic role in British life.